The Flash: Back To Normal – Review

The Flash: Back To Normal (Season 2, Episode 19)

“It’s just a regular day. And I’m just a regular guy.” – Barry

Who would have thought that an episode of The Flash without “The Flash” would have been one of the best episodes of the season?

This week we saw Barry adjusting to living life at an average pace. Harry went off in search of his daughter Jesse but was then kidnapped by a meta-human with super-strength called Griffin Grey. The rest of the team found Jesse and with her help they rescued Harry. Over on Earth-2 we found out that Jay kidnapped Caitlin because he loves her. Caitlin freed Killer Frost from one of Jay’s holding cells at which point Killer Frost tried to kill Caitlin but Jay killed Killer Frost before she was able to.

Barry lost his speed last week and this episode began by showing how his life was now different without it. This was a really cool part of the episode because on one level, it was funny but at the same time you genuinely felt sad and pitied Barry’s situation. Whilst having to queue for coffee isn’t the worst thing in the world, it was clear that what Barry wanted most was to be able to help people.

We really got to appreciate Tom Cavanaugh’s (Harrison Wells) acting range this week. Whilst he spends most of his scenes in the show playing this misanthropic, vaguely bitter character, we saw a different side of him at the end of the episode. The scene in which he re-united with his daughter Jesse was the most emotionally-charged part of the episode. It was a really beautiful, father-daughter moment and hopefully we’ll see more of that side of Harry as it looks like Jesse will be sticking around.

Speaking of Jesse, my feelings about her continue to fluctuate. When she first spoke to her dad in the episode she gave off this overwhelmingly bratty vibe but by the end I found myself liking her again. I’m really hoping she grow into a more consistent character as the season comes to a close. We got another Jesse Quick nod from Harry so in Season 3 we may see her as a speedster.

Griffin Grey was a fairly average villain but I loved his costume. When he first came on screen my initial thought was how strange it was that a middle-aged man was dressed like a frat boy. The reveal that he was actually 18 was so fitting and I wanted to clap for the wardrobe department.

On Earth-2 we saw more of Jay/Zoom and is it just me or did he get much more interesting once we found out that he was evil? Killer Frost’s voice was nothing short of grating and I wasn’t sorry to see her die: I found myself pro-Zoom this episode.

At end there were two big revelations: Zoom wanted to conquer more Earths and he was going to start with Caitlin’s. Also, Harry was going to create another particle accelerator (because the first one went so well) to give Barry his powers back.

Will the particle accelerator work? Do you like Jesse? What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments.